Sphere of Influence
Chapter 1: Chance Meetings
Version 1.00 (26/08/04)
K A B L A M ! ! !
Looking down the smoking pipe of the riot gun, Asuka wondered why she hadn't thought of this before. It was far better than battering Shinji at the back of the skull in every aspect: it had longer range, more power, and most importantly, instant lasting results. Asuka casually stepped over the motionless boy on the floor, momentarily eyeing the darkened patch of skin on his forehead then took her seat to the front of the class. Before she could put the gun away, she noticed Hikari staring at it over her shoulder.
'Hey Asuka, have you heard?' she asked.
She merely shrugged. 'Heard what?'
'You know, the transfer student moving into this class?'
'Oh that!' She rolled her eyes, remembering the time when the last time a transfer student came. 'Well, at least I have this.' She aimed the gun at Hikari's head to prove her point. 'If he turns out anything like the three stooges and POW! Right between his eyes.'
All of a sudden, Hikari grinned awkwardly, 'Err, Asuka…' she motioned to the door… 'Ooklay Ehindbay Ouyay…'
'Oook what?!'
'It's Pig Latin,' a hollow voice answered from behind. Terrified, Asuka quickly turned around, catching a glimpse of a girl taking a seat just a few desks away. 'She said "look behind you".' The girl stopped to inspect the brass armament in Asuka's arms. 'So… you must be the sheriff of this one horse town.'
A nervous sweat drop rolled down Asuka's neck as she quickly swung the gun to her back and smiled clumsily. 'Heeey. You must be the new kid.' She stumbled up, awkwardly offering her hand out. 'My name's Asuka Langley Soryu.'
'Hikari Horaki,' the other offered, 'I'm the class rep. If you have any problems, just talk to me.'
The girl stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, before taking it with her own. 'Sharon… Sharon Stevenson.'
'Stevenson?' Asuka echoed, the foreign name catching her off guard. By her appearance, Asuka could have sworn she was Japanese. 'Well, Sharon Stevenson, welcome to Class 2-4 of Tokyo-3 High School. So… how do you find our school so far…'
Sharon paused for a second, taking a quick glimpse around the room. Her gaze stopped on the crumpled heap of human flesh lying on the other side of the room. 'Is he… alright?'
Hikari jumped from her seat and smiled brightly at her. 'Oh sure! He should be used to it by now.'
'Hikari!' Asuka began, eyeing her threateningly. 'What she meant to say was that he's always zoning out.'
Hikari raised an eyebrow. 'Don't you mean, "knocked" out?'
'I'll give YOU knocked out!' she said, drawing her fist into the air. Then she noticed that the other girl had disappeared from her side, having moved over to the other side of the room to help up the down stricken boy to an empty seat.
'There you go,' Sharon said, patting the dirt off his clothes. 'Are you okay?'
Shinji wasn't sure what to think with world spinning wildly around him. As he reached out to grab something for support, his hand fell short of her shoulders… falling instead upon the new girl's left breast.
Enraged, Asuka lifted the riot gun, aimed it at Shinji's head and pulled the trigger.
K A P O W ! ! !
The rubber slug caught him square in jaw, sending the boy crashing into a pile of desks. Asuka pumped the gun and trained her sights on the boy. As expected, he didn't move. Her new toy was more effective than she could have imagined. But as she looked up, she noticed the girl still standing there, her face painted with red.
'So where are you from, Sharon?' Asuka asked as the two teens paced down a crowded corridor, on their way to the next class.
'Sydney.' She lied with a laugh.
'Sydney? As in Sydney Australia?'
The girl smiled. 'Where else?'
As the two girls laughed, Shinji eyed the dark haired one with a curious glare. He wasn't able to talk to her earlier, but he caught something in that brief moment they were together… other than her breast, that is. More like a distant pain in her deep amber eyes.
Maybe if he can talk her to her while Asuka wasn't there. For some reason, she was always angry when he talked to other girls. Maybe he can begin to question her somewhere in private. Like where she learnt to speak Japanese so proficiently. Anything, just as long as he could speak to her.
Just then, another possibility dawned on him. It sounded almost completely farfetched, but wasn't entirely improbable. There was a voice in his head telling him to follow her… to somewhere private. Somewhere he could be alone with her, even just for a few moments.
'…err Asuka,' he heard Sharon say, ' where can I find the little girl's room?'
'The little girl's… oh! The toilet!'
Sharon blushed. 'Keep it down!'
'Right,' Asuka whispered. 'It's just down the hall, turn left on the corridor, third door to the right.'
'Right! I'll catch up to you later.' She waved her companion off and turned around, noticing a shadow disappear behind a pillar of concrete. Her eyes narrowed. She was being tailed. This wouldn't be the first time someone was tracking her, and it wouldn't be the last time she would lose her pursuant.
Weaving through the crowd, Sharon took the left turn down the corridor, and just as Asuka said, there was the girl's toilet, marked by a pink box and a kanji marking. Pushing through the door, she noticed a window just above the porcelain.
Shinji followed soon afterwards, pushing through the door and scanning the lavatory. It was completely empty, save for the two occupied cubicles in the far corner. Carefully, he moved close to the first cubicle as quietly as he could. It was bad enough that the was in the girl's toilet, it would be even worse if anyone found out. What would Asuka do?
He moved to the first cubicle and knocked. There was no response. Irritated by the lack of response, Shinji peered beneath the crack, finding a pair of shoes at the bottom. Maybe it was her, he thought. Not waiting others to find out, Shinji lay flat on his back and slid beneath the gap…
Finding Hikari at the seat, promptly sitting up and slapping him in the face and running out the bathroom.
Well, he thought, there goes the part about nobody noticing. At least we know that she's not here.
Shinji shifted his attention to the second cubicle and trained his gun to its centre. Then, he slid beneath the second door open. Nobody. The second cubicle was completely empty. Which meant that Sharon had somehow got through him. But how?
Sighing in defeat, Shinji walked over to the door and opened it. He was greeted by a mob of angry students, lead by two girls. One was Hikari, the other was Asuka. Both glowered menacingly at him.
'THERE!' cried Hikari screamed, pointing at the assailant. 'THAT'S THE PERVERT!'
Somehow, Asuka already knew, even before Hikari's lips even began to move. She let an evil smile creep upon her face as she raised the riot gun and trained it to the pervert's head.
Shinji stumbled back. 'Please! I can explai-'
K A B O O M ! ! !
K A B O O M ! ! !
Even from outside the toilet, the explosion echoed loudly off the tiles and amplified the noise, nearly deafening the girl who clinged for dear life outside. Even though it was only from the fourth story, it still seemed a long way down. It would definitely be safer inside than out, so she pulled herself up through the small crack, back into the sterile smell of the women's lavatory.
Interesting child, she thought, jumping down from the windowsill onto the cold tiles without a noise. Checking the women's toilets for me… certainly out of character…these eva pilots are certainly amazing people. She then moved over to a set of mirrors and studied her reflection. Two pale yellow eyes stared blankly back at her. With this, she walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on. She ran her hands beneath the cold streams, splashing cold water on her face. As she turned the faucet off, she grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and began to dry herself off, a thought came to her mind.
Maybe I should pay him a visit.
Three bruises marked Shinji's face: two on his forehead, one on his jaw. He's been through worse before, but this seemed pretty embarrassing. As he walked home, there would often be people who point and laugh at his bruises. But somehow he knew he deserved it, looking back on it now. How would he have felt if someone burst in him? Not very pleased, he thought. Not very pleased at all.
He stopped in front of one door.
Knock Knock
The front door creaked open to reveal Kaji waiting on the other side, giving him a knowing look. 'What happened to you?'
He moaned quietly to himself. 'The riot gun you gave Asuka...'
'Ooh! That must have hurt!' he cringed, poking a throb on his forehead.
Shinji flinched at the sting then followed the sergeant through the front door. 'We also got a new transfer student to our class. Her name is Sharon.'
Suddenly, the two men paused as another blonde brunette skidded into the hallway. 'A new transfer student?' Misato inquired, wide eyed, 'So do you like her?'
Shinji felt tentative sweat drop roll along his neck. 'She's alright I guess…'
'No… I mean, is she beautiful… is she attractive?"
The boy paused, noticing that Asuka was on the other side, fingering the barrel of her Riot Gun. 'Err… I guess she's pretty.'
'Pretty.' Kaji gave a curt, yet approving nod. 'Well, our little boy is growing up. Well come in already. Misato prepared dinner… what was it again?"
'Instant noodles,' Shinji guessed as he stepped back in, 'with curry.' Kaji and the boy stepped in, disappearing behind the sliding doors, oblivious to the girl hiding behind a corner.
'Pretty,' she mused to herself, a gentle blush creeping across her face. 'Shinji thinks… I'm pretty…'
Elsewhere…
The doors leading to the school grounds have long been closed shut, with nobody but Mr Nazame, the groundskeeper, left inside. Only the soft murmurs of soft bristles of a broom brushing against the floor echoed across the lonely hallways as the old man began his last sweep for the evening. It had been a long day on the job for him, but if it was any concession, at least it was normal.
He thought too soon.
A sound, not unlike a ball bouncing suddenly came from drown the hall. Mr Nazame's gazed straightened in the direction. What could someone be doing in school grounds in the dead of the night? Maybe he should get his favourite baseball bat to censure this intruder. That would teach them not to trespass on school grounds. With this in mind, he quickly picked up his broom and strode down the hallway with an ominous glint in his eye.
The sound of a ball bouncing grew louder and louder as Mr Nazame walked down the hall. As he turned down a corridor, he froze.
There, no more than a few steps away stood a young girl, throwing a tennis ball against wall. She was wearing the school uniform. She had to be one of their students.
'Hey!' he called out to the girl, his fleeting courage evident in his trembling voice. The stranger stopped, catching the ball as it bounced back to her. Mr Nazame gulped nervously, looking for something to say. 'W-What are you doing here?'
She didn't answer, instead curling her lips slightly. Suddenly, she turned to face him, throwing the tennis ball in his direction.
Startled, Mr Nazame dropped his broom, clattering loudly across the tiles as he caught the ball in his hands. But as he clenched the sphere, a thin mist began to spray out from its edges. 'What the-' he gasped. He didn't even finish. The world suddenly began to darken around him, but even as he tried to fight the fatigue, it was no use. His body collapsed alongside his broom, the tennis ball rolling away from his grip, all the way to the girl's foot.
The girl reached into her skirt pocket and retrieved a satellite phone, pressing an auto dial number.
'HQ,' she whispered into the receiver, 'this is Shinobu. I have completed phase one of the operation. You're clear to send teams Alpha and Beta to sector A.' She paused, grinning to herself. 'That children of light are as good as ours…'
To Be Continued
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